There can be no doubt that the summer of 2008 stands as a high-water mark for superheroes. But in the wake of a superhero renaissance and the growing cultural legitimacy of the genre, the question must be posed: Has the superhero genre evolved beyond the comics medium?

In their follow-up to the brilliant Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo take us on a twisted, depraved ride through a strikingly recognizable America – and our tour guide is a Joker who acts less like any Joker we’ve ever seen and more like a guard at Abu Ghraib.